Community Corner
🌱 AL Hospital Beds Filling Up + Admiral Semmes Statue Relocated
The quickest way to get caught up on the most important things happening today in Mobile.
Welcome back, Mobile! Here's everything you need to know to get this Saturday started off right.
First, today's weather:
Cloudy and warm with showers. High: 72 Low: 57.
Here are the top 3 stories today in Mobile:
- As the omicron coronavirus variant begins to rise, hospital systems in parts of the country are still being challenged by the delta variant. Alabama state health officials reported that approximately 78 percent of inpatient beds and 88 percent of ICU beds in hospitals across the state were occupied. Around 3 percent of inpatient beds and 4 percent of ICU beds statewide were filled by COVID-19 patients, they reported. The latest data shows that Mobile is at medium risk for contracting COVID-19 with a 3 percent positivity rate. (Mobile Patch)
- With monthly federal child tax credits going away in the new year, Mobile tax preparer Beth Korzun said some families might end up with smaller tax refunds than they expected because of the money they already received. People whose incomes pushed past the eligibility threshold during the year ($150,000 for families and $75,000 for single parents) could also see a much smaller refund or even end up owing money. (FOX10 News)
- The statue of Civil War Admiral Raphael Semmes, which was removed last year from the intersection of Government and Royal streets, was unveiled yesterday in its new home at the Mobile History Museum. The statue sparked controversy over Semmes's reported advocacy of a narrative that "erased slavery as a cause of the war." According to museum director Meg Fowler, the museum's job is to tell "an accurate, factual, and contextualized history," and a special committee determined that the Semmes statue should be displayed in a timeline exhibit of Mobile history. "Objects get meaning from the context that they're put in and from the whole context of that timeline," said Fowler. (NBC 15 WPMI)
Today in Mobile:
- Arts & Crafts Storytime At Mobile Public Library (9:00 AM)
- Holiday Homes Tour Hosted By The Historic Mobile Preservation Society (10:00 AM)
- 21+ Movie Night: Lethal Weapon At Exploreum Science Center (5:00 PM)
From my notebook:
- Make (and share!) memories in Mobile this holiday season. Visit Mobile invites local residents to tag them in their holiday photos around town using the hashtags #VisitMobile and #SoMobile.(Facebook)
- A neighbor in Skyland Park is selling $3 fresh yard eggs for pick-up. (Nextdoor)
- A neighbor in The Loop is looking for any commercial buildings for rent or lease in the Mobile, Saraland, Theodore, or Semmes areas for around $2,000 or less a month. (Nextdoor)
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Alrighty, you're all good for today. I'll see you around!
— Sammi Caramela
About me: Assistant Managing Editor at Lightning Media Partners and author of "Some Place Like Home."